Roadside Litter Prevention Project

Roadside Litter Prevention Project

Put your litter in the bin. WA naturally thanks you.

In 2016, Keep Australia Beautiful WA joined forces with the Australian Packaging Covenant and Main Roads WA to tackle roadside litter with some interesting results .

WA naturally thanks you Litter Prevention Project ran from August to December 2016. The trial project involved up to 20 roadhouses along three busy highways-the Great Eastern Highway, Brand Highway and Forrest Highway.

The project included roadside signage and bin stickers installed along highways, posters in roadhouses and more than 300,000 free car litter bags distributed via roadhouses to encourage motorists and passengers to do the right thing with their rubbish and consider our beautiful natural environment.

Project outcomes

30 roadside anti-litter signs were installed on three highways

300,000 car litter bags were distributed during the trial period

Along four kilometres of roadside 7265 items of litter with a volume of 1496 litres was collected

Beverage containers and take away food packaging contributed 69 percent of the volume of litter

The Great Eastern Highway study site had the highest amount of total litter

At the end of the study period the Great Eastern Highway site had seen a reduction of 70 percent in litter volumes

Forrest Highway had the highest amount of litter thrown from vehicles

At the end of the study period the Forrest Highway site had seen a reduction of 73 percent in the volume of litter thrown from vehicles

Average reductions of 59 percent in volume of litter were seen over the study sites

What next?

Keep Australia Beautiful WA is continuing to work with Main Roads WA to make use of the project results in planning ongoing strategies to address roadside litter. Plans may include a redistribution of roadside signs and distribution points to other major highways.

Keep re-using your car litter bag and if the bin is full, take your rubbish with you until you find one. While you are waiting, check out the links on the back of the bag to learn more about Western Australian wildlife, how to become a Litter Reporter and the Bin it to Win it quiz to test your litter knowledge. All the entrants have the chance to win an iPad mini.

Use a bin bag and you will be doing your bit to keep WA clean and protect our wildlife.